TRIXIE READS

We’re not planning to live here full time, but we now have an official address that qualified me to get a library card:

The beautiful Seattle public library.

It was so exciting! One of my tween-to-teenaged dreams come true, having an actual city library to walk to. And not just any library, but such a beautiful structure.

I never would have imagined loving this building if someone had described it to me, but I was in love the first time I saw it. And once inside? There is a grand futuristic dork spookiness about it that’s surreal in a way that surprised me by being magical rather than off-putting, which is saying a lot coming from someone who usually abhors fluorescent lighting and yearns for cozy enveloping spaces. And now I get to go there lots and lots! And borrow the things that live inside it!

The only thing that saddened my technophobic heart: NO DUE DATE STAMPS.

Instead you can ask for a receipt with your due date printed on it. I love ink pads and the feel/sound of the inking and stamping (or watching someone else ink and stamp) and the crookedy way the numbers turn out. On the bright side, the receipt makes an immediate bookmark, which is pretty awesome. It’s a real loss, though, not getting the voyeuristic opportunity to see how many times other people have checked out a book, or know approximately when the last time was somebody borrowed it. Fortunately I live in two places and the other one still has stamps so I get to HAVE IT ALL! Including late fines and the threat of being sent to collections if they exceed $25 . . . something I don’t have to worry about in our other home town. Which reminds me: I actually had a Seattle Public Library card before this. It was called a Q-Card then, I think. But I never lived close enough to conveniently use it. Errrr . . . return books on time.